This invention relates generally to closure devices which can be secured in apertures for closing and sealing same. More specifically, the present invention relates to a closure for use with openings or apertures formed in thin plates or sheets of metal or other rigid material. Although the invention will be described with particular reference to such a closure used in covering an opening in a vehicle body panel, it will be recognized that certain features of the invention may be used or adapted to use in closure assemblies for other purposes and/or in other environments.
In the manufacture of vehicles, closure devices are used to permanently close various body panel apertures or openings which have served their intended purpose and are not longer required, or to perform some other useful function such as to reduce the effective diameter of an opening to a desired new size or to provide a suitable mounting surface for another component. Such openings may be required initially for many reasons, eg., as paint discharge openings or access openings to accommodate mounting of vehicle components. These apertures should be tightly covered or filled after they have served their useful function for excluding moisture, road dirt, noise, exhaust fumes, and the like.
One conventional closure device includes a plate provided with retaining tabs. The plate is sized to cover a body panel aperture, and the tabs fit into separate, identical openings positioned at either end of the aperture. A heat expansible gasket is interposed between the area of the body panel immediately surrounding the aperture and the plate for establishing a seal therebetween. Such a closure is disadvantageous because when the gasket material is heated, it expands in an unconfined manner in all directions, and sometimes does not fill and effectively seal all the spaces between the plug and the edge of the body panel aperture.
It has, therefore, been considered desirable to develop a new and improved closure assembly for a panel aperture which would overcome the foregoing difficulties and others while providing better and more advantageous overall results.